Your skinny jeans do not have to be a thing of the past. You can get back into them but you will need a little time. The process of giving birth has taken its toll on your body and you should allow your body the proper time it needs to heal.

The first mistake anyone trying to lose weight makes is usually by setting their expectations too high. What this means is that there is this stigma that once you are on a ‘diet’ you should start magically dropping pounds. This often does not occur.

In fact, it is this very misconception that pushes so many to abandon their efforts before they really begin. Even if successful in lowering your daily calorie intake, you will more likely to binge if you make sudden changes. Setting unrealistically high goals do nothing but set yourself up for failure.

It is a simple formula, expectations set too high means a high risk of failure. So, if you truly want to put away the maternity wear set reasonable goals. Realistic goals give you higher chances of success. Before you proceed to make any changes to your dietary intake make sure you are in doing so on the advice of your trusted physician.

Arrange your goals so that that are in small increments of fat loss. Be realistic and aim to lose only 10 percent of your overall body fat as a starter goal. This is an achieveable goal and you can work toward it easier than you would if you were considering a larger number of body fat loss.

Once you have figured out this number aim to lose between 1-2 pounds per week. This means that if planning on losing 25 pounds you will want to plan for three months. Eat less, or exercise more, with the ideal situation you will do both. You will need to reduce between 500-1000 calories to reach this goal.

Reward yourself with something other than food when you reach your mini-milestones. When you have lost 5 pounds, make sure to celebrate. This will motivate you by reminding you how hard you are working.

Keep a fitness and health journal. This will help you track your exercise and eating habits. You can watch as your food lists get shorter and your work outs get longer. When you drop weight steadily you are more likely to retire your overweight clothes permanently behind the old portable space heater in your closet.